Councilman Jose Huizar Faces Sexual Harassment Complaint

New York has Anthony Weiner. San Diego has Mayor Bob Filner. And now Los Angeles City Hall might have a sex scandal of its own.

City Councilman Jose Huizar denies the allegations made by his former deputy chief of staff, Francine Godoy, who said in a recently unveiled complaint obtained by the Weekly that she was "subjected to sexual harassment ... and retaliated against when I refused advances ... "

The complaint, filed with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, asks for the ability to sue the city.

The filing alleges that the most recent incident of discrimination took place "on or before" April 21 at City Hall room 465 -- Huizar's office.

Godoy says in the claim that she was subjected to "impermissible, non-job-related questions," "a work environment [not] free of discrimination," termination and demotion and even a "sabotaged ability to run for office."

The Los Angeles Times, which broke the story, says Godoy took a job with the city Department of Transportation April 21.

The paper indicates her salary nearly tripled between the time she started working with Huizar in 2006 and the time she left.

Huizar's office sent this response to the Weekly:

Huizar at work via his Twitter page.

The Councilmember is surprised by the claim. He strongly and emphatically denies the assertions made in the claim sent to the City and intends to fully cooperate with the City in any investigation of this matter. Because of the potential for litigation, we cannot at this time comment on this issue any further. In the meantime, however, the Councilmember remains focused on delivering top-notch City services to the constituents of the 14th Council District.